An Afternoon on the Surface
by Hokuto Uchiha
Summary: Part 1 of the "X-Over Adventures in NYC" series. Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey go to a comedy show at Madison Square Garden, where they meet five-and-a-half-year-old Shireen Baris, and run into two of their archenemies, Chris Bradford and Xever. Also published on my AO3 account, Princess Shireen.
1. Chapter 1

It was just a regular day in the Turtles' lair. Everyone was minding their own business: Splinter was meditating (or _trying_ to meditate); Leo was watching _Space Heroes_ , his favorite show; Raph was feeding Spike, his pet turtle, while trying like hell to ignore Leo's "stupid" show; Donnie was in his lab, working on who-knew-what-this-time; while Mikey was in the kitchen, trying out a new recipe using pizza ingredients.

"And a little salt…and a little pepper…" Mikey said, shaking said ingredients into the blender on top of the pepperoni, mushrooms, pizza dough, and ice cream he had already thrown in there. He looked around the kitchen and said, "Ah yes. A little cheese!" He opened the fridge and took out some cheddar cheese, then added it to the blender. After adding all the ingredients together, he put the lid on the blender and pressed a button to blend all the ingredients. When Mikey was done, he took a sip and was immediately disgusted.

"Blech!" Mikey exclaimed and spit out the concoction. He looked at the blender sadly and said, "Oh, man! I thought I had it that time. I wonder where I went wrong." Saddened by his failure, Mikey went to the sink, ready to dump what was left of his "creation" down the drain, when he overheard the commercials during Leo's show. He went to the living room to check it out after hearing something coming from the TV.

 _"Attention, all comedy lovers!"_ the commercial announced excitedly, showing two guys, one holding a small Coke bottle, the other holding a stopwatch. _"Coming back to the New York City area, the famous comedy duo, Marvel and Cato! See it live, this Saturday afternoon at Madison Square Garden! Tickets are available online at the website on your screen!"_

 _'Hey, I've heard of these guys,'_ Mikey thought and smiled. _'Their stunts are supposed to be really funny.'_

Leo watched as clips of Marvel and Cato performing various stunts flashed on the screen. He rolled his eyes and said, "Now that just looks ridiculous."

"You're one to talk, Leo!" Raph called from his chair while still feeding Spike. "I don't know how you can watch that _Space Heroes_ crap, and _that's_ ridiculous."

"Oh, shut up, Raph!" Leo replied defensively, standing up in front of the TV. "What do you know about entertainment?"

"I know enough to know that _Space Heroes_ sucks," Raph responded. "Spike, chew on your leaf if you agree with me." Spike chomped on the green leaf that was his lunch. Raph looked back at Leo and said, "See? Even Spike thinks so."

"That does it!" Leo exclaimed, getting ready to punch his brother. "I'm gonna enjoy this!"

"Oh, it's a fight you want, eh?" Raph said, getting up as well. "Well, bring it on, fearless leader!"

Both Raph and Leo started fighting each other until Splinter yelled, "What is going on in here?! I _was_ in a deep meditative trance, trying to block out your incessant noise, when—" He paused when he saw two of his sons beating each other senseless. He banged his stick on the floor and yelled, "Leonardo! Raphael! Stop this needless fighting at once!"

Leo and Raph both heard their father and stood at attention. Then they pointed at each other and said, "He started it!

"I don't care who started it," Splinter said firmly. "I'm finishing it. Now, either you stop fighting, or you're both grounded for a week!" Leo and Raph were silent for a moment. "That's what I thought," Splinter said. "Now, apologize to each other."

Leo and Raph looked at each other and—reluctantly—said, "I'm sorry."

"That's better," said Splinter.

"Not to be rude or anything," Donnie interjected. "But how am I supposed to concentrate on my work if you guys keep on going at each other like a pair of cats in a turf war?"

"Don't worry, Donatello. I already took care of it," Splinter assured his son.

"Thanks, Sensei," said Donnie. "Well, I've got to get back to work."

"Are you sure you don't need a break?" Leo asked Donnie. "You've been working in that lab for hours."

"Nah, I'm good," Donnie replied. "Thanks." He then turned around and went back to his lab to finish working on his new project. Unbeknownst to the other three brothers, Mikey was watching the whole scene, and a thought came into his head.

 _'Boy, my brothers and I could use an activity we can enjoy together,'_ Mikey thought. _'Donnie works really hard in his lab, and Leo and Raph are always getting into fights with each other over something.'_ The youngest turtle then got an idea. _'Wait a second! That comedy duo from that commercial. I bet they'd love that! I'll invite them to go!'_

Mikey went over to Leo and Raph, since they were closer, and said, "Hey, guys, I just got a great idea! Let's go to Madison Square Garden on Saturday and see that comedy duo from the commercial!"

"I don't know, Mikey," said Leo. "The commercial said that show's during the afternoon."

"Also, it looks more ridiculous than _Space Heroes_ ," Raph added.

"Watch it, Raph," Leo said warningly.

"Oh, come on, guys," Mikey pleaded. "It'll be fun."

Donnie came out of his lab. "What'd you guys say?" he asked.

"Mikey's trying to get us to go see this comedy duo at Madison Square Garden on Saturday," Leo replied. "But it's during the afternoon. You know, daytime?"

"I don't know," Donnie said. "I think Mikey has a good idea. We could use a day out. And by 'we', I mean all four of us."

* * *

After much convincing, Leo and Raph finally agreed to go to the comedy show with Donnie and Mikey. The only thing they had left to do was to get Splinter to agree with letting them go up to the surface in the middle of the day. It took a little more work, but Splinter finally agreed to let them go, provided they're not in the crowd. After agreeing to Splinter's terms, the turtles started making plans to see the show.


	2. Chapter 2

_Saturday_

As the turtles prepared to go see Marvel and Cato, someone else was having a pretty boring day at home.

Five-and-a-half-year-old Shireen Baris was sitting in her room while her babysitter, Gieve Thrussell, was too busy to pay attention to her while flirting with a girl over her parents' phone. The little girl groaned in annoyance, wondering when Gieve would get off the phone and play with her, while at the same time wishing her brother wasn't busy helping his friends with a school project. Out of boredom, she went into her brother's room and logged onto his computer, knowing he wouldn't mind if she went on the Internet for a little bit. While she was surfing, Shireen found an ad for Cato and Marvel's show that very day!

"Marvel and Cato are back?!" she exclaimed happily, grinning from ear to ear, her brown eyes alight with excitement. "After three years?! Awesome! I've _so_ gotta see them!" She logged off the computer and went into the kitchen to ask Gieve to take her to see the show. Much to her dismay, the idiot was still flirting on the phone.

"Great," she muttered. She then shrugged and said, "I'll just borrow some cab money and go myself. My parents aren't gonna care what I do anyway." She went to one of the kitchen drawers and took some emergency money her parents had left for while they were away, got her sneakers on, and walked out the front door, leaving the oblivious Gieve to his flirting.

Minutes later, Shireen waited at the curb outside her building and hailed a cab, which stopped for her and let her in.

"Where to, little lady?" the driver asked.

"Madison Square Garden," she answered.

"Okay," said the driver. He started the cab again and drove Shireen to Madison Square Garden.

* * *

Once she arrived, Shireen realized she didn't actually have a ticket for the show. She was about to just go back home, when someone tapped her shoulder and said, "If you'd like to get in, I'll sell this ticket to you."

"How much?" Shireen asked eagerly, digging through her overall pockets.

"How much ya got?" asked the guy.

"Sold," the guy said. He took the money from her and gave her the ticket.

"Thank you very much, Mister!" Shireen said and grinned, her smile showing she had recently lost a front tooth.

"You're welcome, kid," said the guy. He walked away and added, "Enjoy the show!"

"Hell yeah, I will!" Shireen replied ecstatically. She skipped to the entrance of Madison Square Garden, and handed her ticket to the ticket taker.

* * *

At the same time, the turtles found a back entrance to sneak into and found a place above the seats to watch the show.

"Oh, man," Mikey whined. "I can't see well from up here."

"Here you go," Donnie said, smiling as he pulled out four pairs of binoculars from the backpack he brought with him.

"Wow, Donnie, you've thought of everything, haven't you?" Leo said as he and his brothers took their binoculars.

"Yup," Donnie replied.

"Thanks, Bro!" Mikey exclaimed and put his binoculars up to his eyes in order to see Marvel and Cato.

"You know, sometimes you can be spooky," Raph said to Donnie as he, Donnie, and Leo held their binoculars up to see the show.

"I prefer to think of myself as prepared," Donnie replied, still keeping his eyes on the duo on stage.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Gieve has a surname in this series because he, and the other _Arslan Senki_ characters, are living in 21st century New York instead of medieval Pars.


	3. Chapter 3

For the most part, the turtles found the show pretty entertaining. Raph almost fell out of his seat at one point, and soda came out of Leo's nose when he laughed.

"Aw, weak!" Raph exclaimed as his brother's soda splashed on his head; Leo was facing Raph's direction when the soda came out of his nose.

"Hey, Raph, maybe we should call you Sodahead," Mikey said, laughing and pointing at the angry turtle.

"And maybe we should call you Black Eye!" Raph yelled. He got up and prepared to punch Mikey, only to be held back by Leo and Donnie.

"There will be no fighting here," Leo said. "We might be seen!"

Raph took a few deep breaths, and Leo and Donnie let go of him. "Fine, I won't punch Mikey."

"Good," said Donnie. "Now, let's just enjoy the rest of the show." He and his brothers sat back down and watched Marvel and Cato and their funny antics.

"Awesome! Looks like the finale's coming up!" said Mikey. He grinned and held his binoculars up.

The turtles turned their attention to the stage as Cato announced to the audience, "All right everyone, pay close attention, 'cause my buddy Marvel's gonna chug an entire bottle of soda in under three seconds!"

Donnie laughed at that and said, "There's no way he can pull that off. It's impossible to drink an entire bottle of anything in under three seconds, no matter what the size."

"Let's see if you're proven wrong, Mr. Smartyshell," Mikey retorted. He and his brothers then actually paid attention to the duo on stage.

* * *

While the turtles were watching the show, Shireen jumped up and down and cheered for Marvel and Cato to start their final act. Her white pigtails bounced as she hopped in her seat.

"Yeah!" she exclaimed. "I believe in you, Marvel!"

When Cato said, "Go!" and started the stopwatch, Marvel opened and chugged the small bottle of orange soda he had with him. After he was done, Cato revealed that it actually took Marvel five seconds, not three.

* * *

Donnie turned to Mikey and said, "Told you."

"D'oh!" Mikey said.

"Uh, that Marvel guy doesn't look too good," said Leo. He pointed out Marvel, who looked, well, not good. The other three turtles turned their attention back to the stage.

"You're right, Leo," said Raph. "He looks like he's gonna be sick."

Marvel vomited the orange soda back onto the stage, making half the audience cry out in disgust, while the other half—Shireen included—laughed.

"Oh, God!" Raph exclaimed. "Gross!"

"Oh, that is disgusting!" said Leo.

Mikey laughed hysterically and said, "I don't know what you guys are talking about! That was priceless!"

"Oh, shut up, Mikey!" said Raph.

"Uh, Donnie, are you okay?" Leo asked, which got Raph and Mikey's attention. Donnie looked greener than he normally was, which seemed like a sign that he was nauseous and about to puke.

"Maybe we should get you outside," Leo said as people began filing out of the building.

"I'm not gonna make it!" Donnie said. He spun around, opened his mouth and released a stream of his lunch from earlier that day. He would have fallen over if Leo hadn't caught him in time.

"There goes my lunch," he muttered to himself.

As the other three turtles helped their brother, they heard a man's voice yell, "Hey! Who did that?!" They all picked up their pace and got out of the building. Raph had to carry Donnie because he was still weak from throwing up.

As they were running, Shireen caught a glimpse of them and said to herself, "Are those turtles?" She ran to catch up with them and headed out into the late afternoon to look for the turtles she had seen.

* * *

As the turtles stopped to catch their breath, Mikey asked, "Was that Bradford and Xever?"

"Sure looked like it," Raph replied, setting Donnie down.

"Do you think they saw us?" asked Donnie.

"I wouldn't be surprised," said Leo. "But I don't think they saw which way we went, so we should be okay to rest for a bit."

"Oh, good," Mikey said in a relieved voice and plopped down next to Donnie. He said to all his brothers, "Sorry about the soda-chugging thing. I read good things online about that duo."

"Did the people who reviewed them actually think this stuff was funny, or were they disgusted?" Raph asked.

"It varied," said Mikey.

"Why do they do that, anyway?" Leo asked.

"I dunno," said Mikey. "But it works."

"Is he gonna be okay?" a voice asked. The turtles jumped up in surprise and drew their weapons, ready for whatever fight was coming. To their surprise, they were face-to-face with a little girl, Shireen, to be exact.

"Well, this is awkward," said Mikey.

"I come in peace!" Shireen said, holding her hands up in surrender.

The turtles put their weapons away. Leo said, "Sorry. We thought you were an enemy."

Shireen put her hands down, seeing that they weren't going to hurt her. "Like I asked before, is he okay?" she asked, pointing to Donnie.

"Oh, yeah, he just got grossed out by the finale, and threw up on someone," said Raph.

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay?" Shireen asked Donnie.

"Yeah," Donnie replied. "I'll be fine. I think I'll try standing up by myself now." He did just that. To his relief, his legs didn't feel weak and his stomach wasn't turning. "You know, guys, I think I'll be all right."

"What a relief!" Mikey exclaimed and hugged his brother very tightly.

"Mikey!" Donnie gasped. "Choking! Not breathing!"

"Oh…sorry," Mikey said and let go. "Guess I don't know my own strength."

"It's okay," Donnie said and sucked in some more air, then straightened up again. "I'm fine."

"Looks like everyone's fine," said Leo. He turned to leave. "Well, we should get going."

"Wait, you're going already?" asked Shireen, following the turtles.

"Yeah, we've got some important top secret ninja stuff to do," said Raph. "And you should head back home to your parents, wherever they are."

Shireen frowned at the mention of her parents. "My parents aren't even home. They're in Frisco. And my babysitter wasn't watching me; he was just flirting on the kitchen phone."

"Well, that is really irresponsible," Leo said and facepalmed.

"Yeah," said Shireen. "Stupid Gieve. Wait till Arslan kicks his stupid ass!"

"Woah!" Mikey said, surprised at what Shireen said. "Where did a nice little girl like you hear a bad word like that? And who's Arslan?"

"My cousin Hermes says cursewords," Shireen replied. " And Arslan's my big brother."

"Well, the "A" word is not a word you should be using, just so you know," said Mikey.

"I don't know, Mikey," said Raph. "Sometimes it's appropriate to swear. Like when your babysitter just ignores you, or when your brother's watching a certain show on TV?"

"Raph, just because you don't like Space Heroes doesn't mean I can't like it either!" said Leo.

"You watch Space Heroes?" Shireen asked, trying to stifle a laugh. "Arslan's friend Elam says it's a dorky show."

"Well, that's Elam's opinion," Leo said and crossed his arms.

"Speaking of brothers, why wasn't this brother of yours watching you?" Donnie asked as they walked away from Madison Square Garden.

"Well, he was busy with helping his friends with a school project," Shireen explained. "So he had to call Gieve to watch me. Look how that turned out."

"Yeesh," said Mikey. "Sounds like he made a boo-boo hiring this guy."

"Ars trusted him because they're friends," said Shireen. "Gieve's babysat me before, but he's never entirely ignored me like today."

"Well, that was a mistake," said Raph. "I'd hate to be in that guy's place when your brother finds out you're missing."

"Uh, speaking of that, we can take you home if you'd like," Leo offered.

"Really?" Shireen asked and grinned. "Great, thanks! I'm Shireen. Shireen Baris. What are your names?"

"I'm Leo," Leo introduced himself, then pointed to his brothers. "These are Raph, Donnie, and Mikey."

"Okay, we're all introduced now, so let's get going," Raph said and picked Shireen up. Just as they were preparing to leave, they heard a deep voice say, "Well, well, if it isn't the turtles."

The turtles turned around and saw two men standing before them. One had brown hair and blue eyes, and had facial hair like Chuck Norris. The other, a man of Afro-Brazilian descent, had black hair in an afro style, and brown eyes. These two men were none other than the turtles' archenemies, Chris Bradford and Xever Montes. Bradford looked angry, and Xever was trying not to laugh. The guy soon gave in and doubled over in spasms of laughter, while pointing directly at Bradford. Turned out that Xever was laughing at Bradford because of the vomit covering the angry man's head, revealing that Bradford was the one Donnie accidentally threw up on.

"Great," Shireen said sarcastically as Raph set her down. "It's Chris Bradford. He's so full of himself, I swear—is that puke on his stupid head?!" She had to try very hard to stifle a fit of laughter.

"All right," said Bradford. "Who's the one who did this to me?" He turned to a still laughing Xever and said, "It's not funny, Xever!" Then he turned back to the turtles and said, "I know it was one of you!"

"Uh, would it help if I said I was sorry?" Donnie asked hopefully.

"Yes," said Bradford. "It'll make the beating I'm about to deliver slightly less painful." He hit one of his hands with a fist and grinned at the thought of seeing Donnie black and blue.

Shireen saw that her new friends were in trouble and shivered a little. 'Man, this is nuts! What would Ars do?' she thought. A couple seconds later, she ran out in front of the turtles, spreading her arms out in order to defend them from an angry Bradford. "Is there any chance I can get you to leave them alone?" she asked the angry man before her.

"You stay out of it, you little pest! Or I'll make you my punching bag next!" Bradford said, shaking his fist at Shireen. The little girl whimpered and ran behind the turtles.

Mikey got in front of Shireen and said, "Hey, you can't treat little girls like that! What'd she ever do to you?"

"It's simple," Bradford replied. "She's in my way. And so are you."

"In that case," Mikey said, reaching inside his shell. "I've got a little surprise for you." He pulled out a string of firecrackers and a match. Before Bradford could react, Mikey lit the match and held it close to the firecrackers. He threw the firecrackers and screamed, "Run!" as the firecrackers exploded. With that said, Raph grabbed Shireen, and he and the others hightailed it out of the alley they were in, while Bradford and Xever were struggling to avoid getting hit by the firecrackers. Bradford mentally cursed himself for letting the turtles escape, while Xever mentally cursed Bradford for the same thing.


	4. Chapter 4

While Shireen and the turtles were running through the city, Gieve was still on the phone with the girl he had been flirting with earlier. As he was talking, he heard two male voices behind him, then heard someone clearing their throat. He stopped in mid-conversation and turned around. Behind him were two teenage boys, staring straight at him. One of them, twelve and a half years old, had shoulder-length white hair and blue eyes, and was wearing a gray hoodie, denim jeans, and white sneakers. The other, sixteen years old, had a slight tan, long-ish brown hair and golden eyes, and wore a black T-shirt, black hooded jacket, black jeans, and dark brown combat boots.

"Oh, hey Arslan! Hey, Daryun!" Gieve said enthusiastically, then started getting back to talking.

Daryun, the older boy, grabbed the phone from Gieve, who didn't look too happy. "He'll call you back," he said to the girl on the other end, then hung up. He and the younger boy, Arslan, were still staring at Gieve in confusion.

"Hey!" Gieve complained after Daryun hung up the phone. "What the heck? Why do ya have to cramp my style, Daryun?" It was then that he really noticed the slightly-annoyed-but-angry looks on his friends' faces. "Uh, hey, guys," he said and grinned. "You're back...Uh, what's wrong?"

Daryun rolled his eyes and asked, "What do you think you were doing?"

"Uh…just, well, talking," Gieve replied nervously; he always felt uneasy when Daryun didn't look too happy with him.

Now it was Arslan's turn to roll his eyes. "Whatever." Just then a hawk flew into the living room from another room, landing on Arslan's shoulder, waiting for his owner to pet him. "Well, Gieve, to answer your question," Arslan said as he pet his hawk. "We just went to check on Shireen. And guess what? No Shireen! Azrael told me he hasn't seen her either!" He indicated his hawk, whose name was Azrael.

"What?" Gieve replied incredulously and chuckled. "No way, man. She's probably playing in her room. I'll show you." He led Arslan, Daryun, and Azrael down the hall and stopped in front of a door, opening it. "See?" Gieve said proudly, grinning as he and his friends stepped inside what looked like a typical little kid's room. "I told you she's—" His smile faded when he saw, to his dismay, that there was no child in the room. "What?! But, but…but she _was_ in here, I swear!"

Daryun glanced at Gieve and asked, "And how long ago did you see her in here?"

Gieve opened his mouth to reply, but faltered. _'Oh, crap!'_ he thought as he stood under Daryun's piercing gaze. Then he answered the brunette, "Uh...I guess a couple hours ago...I don't really remember."

Arslan glared at Gieve, thinking, _'Urge to kill…rising!'_ It took all his willpower not to harm Gieve.

Daryun saw how angry Arslan looked and attempted to placate his friend. "Maybe she's in the closet, or under the bed. You know how she sometimes likes to trick us." Azrael flew from his owner and perched himself on Shireen's bed, which had a purple _My Little Pony_ comforter on it, along with some stuffed animals and a pillow with Twilight Sparkle on the case.

Arslan calmed down just enough to hear Daryun out. "Maybe you're right. I'll check the bed. You check the closet." He turned towards Gieve, glaring again, and said through gritted teeth, "Rena _better_ be in here, Gieve Thrussell!" Then he got down on his hands and knees, and started looking under his sister's bed. "Rena? Are you here, Sis?" When he saw there was no sign of the little girl, Arslan got out from under the bed, brushing away any dust bunnies that might have settled in his hair. _'Boy, she really needs to clean up under there. Mom would freak if she saw that.'_ "Daryun, any luck?" he called to his friend in the closet.

Daryun walked out of the closet, shutting the door behind him. "No," he replied. "She's not under the bed?"

Arslan got up off the carpeted floor and looked at Daryun and Gieve. "No, she's not."

"Maybe she's in another room," Gieve offered with a nervous air. "Like, say, your parents' room, or a bathroom."

"She _never_ goes in Mom and Dad's room when they're away!" Arslan exclaimed. "She knows we're not freaking allowed!"

"And we would've heard a toilet flushing or water running if she was in one of the bathrooms," Daryun added in agreement.

"Not being allowed hasn't stopped her before," Gieve said. "Remember last time your parents were away? Shireen went right into their room and jumped on the bed."

Daryun thought for a minute. "Yeah, you're right," he agreed with Gieve. "I'll check in there. Ars, why don't you check under the kitchen sink and in the pantry? Gieve, you check under the hall bathroom sink. Maybe she's hiding in one of those places."

"Right," Arslan and Gieve replied. The trio split up and looked in their respective spots. After minutes of searching, they all came back to Shireen's room empty-handed.

"Uh…this is bad, isn't it?" Gieve asked.

"You're damn right, it's bad!" Daryun said angrily, glaring at Gieve.

Arslan stormed towards Gieve and got in the teen's face. Normally, Arslan was a sweet kid who didn't get angry, but his eyes were now filled with rage. "I'll ask you again, Gieve. Where. The. Hell. Is. Shireen?"

"I don't know!" Gieve replied frantically and backed away from his friend. "I swear, I don't know! I was on the phone all day!"

"That's it! You're dead!" Arslan shouted and lunged at Gieve, ready to throttle him. Luckily for the purple-haired musician, Daryun held Arslan back. "Daryun Travis Sadik, let me go, dammit!" Arslan yelled as he scratched at Daryun's arms in an attempt to free himself. "Let me the hell go! That asshole lost my sister!"

"Calm down," Daryun said and held Arslan tighter. "This isn't helping."

"I-I'm sure she's fine," Gieve stammered and backed farther away from angry Arslan until he hit the baby blue wall behind him. He now stood next to Shireen's dresser. "Sh-she can take care of herself, right?"

"No, she can't!" Arslan yelled again, his hair getting in his face as he still struggled in Daryun's tight grip. "Shireen's five and a half freaking years old, stupid! She could be in trouble, and I'm not out there protecting her! You idiot! I trusted you!"

"Calm down, Arslan!" Daryun said. "I have an idea." Once he was definitely sure Arslan wouldn't try to attack Gieve again, he set the boy down.

Arslan took a few deep breaths in order to calm himself, then looked at Daryun. "What? What's your idea?"

Daryun took out his iPhone and said, "Every Smartphone has GPS in them, right? Rena has one."

"Yeah," said Arslan.

"Well," Daryun continued as he and the other two boys made their way to the living room. "We can just get her location by tracking her phone."

"That's a great idea," a now smiling Arslan said. His smile faded as he looked at Gieve again.

"Uh…" Gieve said, trying to think of something, _anything_ , to get Arslan to stop being angry with him. "Uh, you know, Ars…this is just like the time we got lost in the mall parking lot…don't you think?"

"No, and I don't really care!" Arslan snapped, still glaring daggers at Gieve. "And, right now, Nimrod, _you're_ not allowed to call me Ars."

"Why?" Gieve asked, his eyebrows raised in confusion.

"Because I'm still angry with you! That's why!" Arslan replied, now looking anywhere but at Gieve.

"That's odd," Daryun announced minutes later. Arslan and Gieve looked to see Daryun staring at his phone with a puzzled expression. "It says Shireen's in her room."

"Huh?" Arslan asked, now looking over Daryun's shoulder at the brunette's phone. "But she's not. We were just in there." He ran back to his sister's room, where he saw her phone lying on her purple bedside table. "Oh, fuck," he muttered worriedly and picked the phone up. When Daryun and Gieve saw him coming back into the living room, they noticed he didn't look too pleased. Arslan showed them Shireen's phone. "It was still in her room. Great. Just freaking great."

Daryun sighed and looked at his phone. "We'll give her two more minutes to come back. After that, I'm calling the cops."

Arslan and Gieve each took a seat on one of the couches. Arslan turned to Gieve, once again glaring at him with now watering eyes. "I swear to God, Gieve, if _anything_ has happened to Rena, it's on _you_!" Then he took a pillow from the couch and buried his face in it, worrying that Shireen was in some sort of danger.

"Duly noted," Gieve replied, scared out of his mind at the moment, and looked around the apartment, thinking, _'Please, God, please let Shireen be all right.'_

* * *

While Arslan, Daryun, and Gieve were waiting and worrying, Shireen and the turtles were still running from Bradford and Xever. The late afternoon sun was just starting to set when they ducked behind a bunch of overflowing garbage cans in an alley.

"Good thing today's not garbage day," Shireen commented.

"You can say that again," said Mikey.

"Ssh!" Leo urgently told everyone else. "I think I heard something." They all heard Bradford's voice: "I think they're around here somewhere."

Next they heard Xever: "Will you just let it go already?" He sounded annoyed. "Take a cue from Elsa from Frozen."

"Zip it, Xever!" Bradford commanded. "And if you start singing that annoying song, I'll pound you into the pavement!"

"Ooh, I'm so scared," Xever said sarcastically.

"Don't think I won't!" Bradford replied.

"This is starting to get annoying," Shireen commented. "Do you guys have to deal with this every day?"

"Yeah," the turtles answered.

"I bet this'll get 'em to come out," Bradford said. Then he called out, "Hey, turtles! Brat! Let me have the purple one, and maybe I'll let the rest of you go!"

"And what, pray tell, would you do with him?" Shireen called back.

"Why beat him up, of course," Bradford said, as if the answer should have been obvious.

"There's no way we're letting you hurt our brother!" Mikey called. "It's all for one and one for all!"

"Besides, don't you think you're overreacting?" Leo asked. "I mean, it was just an accident."

"My fist breaking your brother's teeth!" Bradford shouted. "That's the accident!"

"Let me at him!" Raph exclaimed. He was about to jump out of his hiding place, when Leo stopped him. Raph glared at his brother as if to ask, "What the heck?!"

"Is there a problem here?" a male voice asked from behind Bradford and Xever. The two turned around and were face-to-face with a teenage boy, about sixteen years old. He had slightly messy brown hair and green eyes. His outfit consisted of a navy blue hooded New York Yankees sweatshirt, denim jeans, dark-colored sneakers, and, on his face, a silver mask. He stood facing the two men, ready to fight if need be.

"Who the heck are you, kid?" Bradford asked, ready to fight as well.

"I was just minding my own business, stopping the Purple Dragons, and now I see you morons trying to attack innocent people!" the boy replied. "You just pissed off Lord Silvermask, idiots!"

"Lord Silvermask?" Mikey asked while Shireen breathed a sigh of relief. "Geez, I can come up with a better hero name than that."

"Shut up, Mikey!" Leo and Raph whispered.

* * *

Bradford and Xever were still being confronted by Lord Silvermask.

"Listen, kid," Bradford said in a menacing tone. "I don't care who you are. You better get out before I make you my punching bag! Got that?" He shook his fist at the boy, who didn't even flinch. Xever interrupted Bradford's threat.

"Listen, Bradford, that Leo's got a point."

"What?!" Bradford shouted and rounded on Xever, forgetting about Lord Silvermask momentarily.

"Look, don't get me wrong," said Xever, referring to the turtles. "I don't like these turtles any more than you do. But it's not like Donatello intentionally aimed at you. I bet he just got sick and you just happened to be in his line of fire."

"That's exactly what happened, Xever!" Donnie called. "Thank you!"

"No problem!" Xever called back.

"Hey, quit being friendly with the enemy, Xever!" Bradford said.

"I can do whatever I want, Macho Man," Xever retorted. "Why don't you take a cue from Elsa and-"

"Don't you dare!"

 **"Let it go,"** Xever started to sing. **"Let it-"** Xever was interrupted when Bradford punched him.

"I warned you, didn't I?" said Bradford. "Now you're gonna get it!"

"You want a fight?" said Xever. "You've got one!" Both Xever and Bradford started attacking each other.

While Bradford and Xever fought each other, Lord Silvermask sighed and rolled his eyes. He stepped forward and grabbed the two brawlers by their shirts. "You two wanna fight?! Well, you'll fight me!" He clonked their heads together, then threw them on the ground while Shireen and the turtles watched.

"Hey, he took our opponents!" Raph whined as he, his brothers, and Shireen got ready to go.

"Yeah, but hopefully they'll be at that for a while," Donnie said as he got ready to run away. "Let's go."

"Right," everyone else agreed and followed Donnie out of the alley.

As they left, they saw Lord Silvermask still beating Bradford and Xever. "Serves you right for picking on helpless civilians! That's it, right?" Lord Silvermask said. "You're trying to beat up some innocent kids!"

"Thanks," Shireen mumbled quietly, even though Lord Silvermask couldn't hear her. She and the turtles headed towards her house. Luckily Shireen knew her address, so the turtles could find it easily.


	5. Chapter 5

After they managed to escape Bradford and Xever, the turtles decided it would be faster to take Shireen home by jumping from roof to roof. This was easy with their ninja training, and Shireen was having a blast. After looking around, they finally found Shireen's street. From there, they started looking for her building.

"There!" Shireen announced, pointing out a nice-looking apartment building with a sign that said "Ecbatana Apartments" on it. "That's it. The one over there."

When the turtles looked where Shireen was pointing, their jaws dropped, and they all said in unison, "Wow."

"That's fancy," Mikey commented.

"Your family must be pretty rich if you can afford to live there," said Raph.

"Yeah, my parents are pretty wealthy," Shireen replied.

"What do they do?" Leo asked.

"Um…I'm not supposed to say," Shireen answered.

Leo shrugged and said, "Well, to be fair, we did just meet. So, okay, you don't have to tell us now."

"Oh, good," a relieved Shireen said. "I'll tell you some other time." She looked at her building and said, "Maybe we should go in through the lobby doors." She and the turtles made their way down the building they were standing on. They found themselves across from Shireen's home.

"Uh, did you just say we should go through the lobby doors?" Donnie asked and glanced at the little girl.

"Of course!" Shireen replied and smiled. "How else would we get in the building, silly?"

"That probably wouldn't be such a good idea, Shireen," Leo said and looked at the double doors leading into the lobby.

"Huh?" Shireen asked, confused as to why her friends seemed apprehensive about going into her building. They were her friends, after all, so there shouldn't be any problem. "Why not?"

"Well," Raph explained. "The problem is we're giant talking turtles. If people saw us, they'd freak."

"No way," Shireen said and laughed. "Not the people in _my_ building. You're my friends, so they won't be scared."

"I don't know…" Leo said, uncertainty in his voice.

"Please?" Shireen pleaded with her friends. Her eyes took on a look similar to a puppy's when said animal begs for a taste of one's food. "Oh, please, please, _please_?"

The turtles just stared at her, trying to figure out how to respond to her pleas and puppy-dog eyes. They wanted to say "No," but the more they looked at her face, the more impossible it was to refuse. Finally, they all caved and said, "Okay."

Shireen stopped using her puppy-dog face and smiled at her friends. "Really?! You'll come?"

"Yeah, sure," said Raph as he and the others crossed the street to get to Shireen's building. _'Not like we have a choice anymore,'_ he thought.

"Yay!" Shireen cheered happily as she jumped up and hugged her friends. She then led them to the lobby doors. _'Heh. Works every time,'_ she thought with a hidden smirk.

The five friends walked through the doors to the lobby, only to be stopped by the doorman who was on staff.

"Hey, whoa, whoa," the doorman said and stopped Shireen and the turtles. "Where are—Oh, Shireen." He smiled and continued, "You're home late."

"Yeah," Shireen replied. "I know. Just heading home now."

"Where have you been?" the doorman asked.

"I was watching Cato and Marvel with my friends here," Shireen said and gestured to the turtles accompanying her.

The doorman looked oddly at them and asked, "Are you guys heading to the costume party?"

"Actually, we're mutants," Mikey corrected the doorman before being hit on the head by Raph. "Ow! Raph!" He glared at Raph, who quickly said, "That's what we're dressed up as. Mutant turtles."

"Oh, cool," the doorman said in response. "Hey, maybe at least one of you might win first prize."

"Maybe!" Shireen said and grinned. "Their costumes are pretty cool, huh? Well, have a good night." She and the turtles headed to the elevator just as the doorman flipped open a newspaper and began to read.

After Shireen pressed the "UP" button for the elevator, she and the turtles stood waiting. Raph was tapping his foot impatiently; Leo—much to Raph's annoyance—was humming the _Space Heroes_ theme song; and Donnie and Shireen were looking at the floor numbers above the elevator. Mikey turned around and noticed the doorman still reading the paper, then commented, "So, how about them Knicks?"

The doorman stopped reading and turned to look at Mikey. "Oh, you thought I was reading the sports page. What makes you think I'm not catching up on other parts of the world? Right, 'cause I'm the uneducated doorman."

"No, no, that's not what I meant!" Mikey said hastily.

Shireen looked from the numbers above the elevator and saw what was going on. She smacked her forehead with her palm and said, "Come on, Liam, he didn't mean you're unducatered or whatever."

"I think he said _uneducated_ , Shireen," Donnie corrected the child.

"Oh…right," Shireen said, embarrassed at her mistake. She went back to looking at the numbers, checking to see what floor the elevator was on now.

After several minutes, the elevator finally arrived at the lobby and opened. Shireen and the turtles entered. After the doors shut, Shireen pressed the button representing her floor, and the elevator transported the five pals upwards.

During their ride, Leo asked, "There's a costume contest?"

"Yeah," Shireen replied as the elevator passed the sixth floor. "At the Mellarks' place. They live next door to me, and they usually hold costume parties once a month or so."

"Since it's a contest, any idea on what the prizes are?" Mikey asked eagerly.

"Oh, no," Raph said warningly. "You're not entering any contest! What if people find out you're not wearing a costume, doofus?"

"Hey, I'm not a doofus!" Mikey whined. "And I was talking to Shireen." He turned back to his new friend just as the elevator neared the eleventh floor. "So, what's the prize?"

Shireen thought for a moment and said, "I think my friend Dahlia said her parents are giving away a coupon for a free Antonio's pizza."

"Sweet!" Mikey cheered as the elevator came to a stop. He and the others exited after the doors opened, and they stepped into the hallway. "I'm _so_ gonna enter!"

"Where's your apartment?" Donnie asked, looking at the doors on either side.

After passing a few doors, Shireen and the turtles finally stopped.

"Here's my place," Shireen said and smiled. She turned the knob of the door she faced, and opened it, then walked into the apartment and let the turtles inside.

Inside the apartment, Shireen and the turtles saw Daryun frantically talking on his phone, while Arslan was now standing in front of the couch. He had Gieve by the shoulders and was shaking the musician furiously, more worried now that a significant amount of time had passed.

"Uh—" Shireen started, but couldn't get her brother's attention.

"You stupid idiot!" Arslan yelled and shook Gieve more. He sounded like he was about to start crying. "Why?! Why weren't you watching her?!"

"I-I'm sorry!" Gieve exclaimed, his head whipping back and forth as his friend kept shaking him.

"Guys, I—" Shireen started again. She then noticed Daryun still yelling into the phone.

"Can't you get here any faster?!" Daryun shouted hysterically into his phone. "No! Don't tell me to calm down! There's a five-and-a-half-year-old child missing—" He stopped when he saw Shireen and the turtles standing in the apartment. The turtles looked confused, and Shireen was obviously ashamed at the trouble she had caused. Daryun spoke into the phone again, his face flushed with embarrassment at his actions. "Uh, never mind. She's right here. I'm very sorry I wasted your time, and that I yelled at you…and I shouldn't have said those things about your mother." He hung up, looked at Shireen, then at Gieve and Arslan. "Hey, Ars, she's back. You can stop shaking Gieve." He turned back to Shireen. "Thank God!" he said in relief and gave the girl a hug.

"It's okay, I'm fine, Daryun," Shireen assured the older teen.

Arslan pushed Gieve back onto the couch and went over to where his sister was. He bent down, pushed Daryun out of the way, and hugged her as well. "Thank God! You're okay!" He let her go, wiped at his eyes, and said, "Where were you, Rena? We were all worried sick."

Shireen looked down at the Corinthian carpet covering the living room floor, then back up at her now relieved brother. "I'm sorry, bro. I-I just wanted to see Cato and Marvel's show, so I went to Madison Square Garden myself. I…I would've asked Gieve to take me, but he was still on the phone."

Daryun, who was still eye-level with Shireen, asked, "What were you thinking? Do you have any idea what could've happened to you out there?"

"I guess I wasn't thinking," Shireen replied quietly.

"Well, don't ever do that again," Daryun told her. "Next time Marvel and Cato are here, if you want to go see them, make sure to bring someone with you. Even if you have to keep bugging said person to take you."

"Okay," said Shireen. "I promise." Then she brightened as she remembered her new friends. "But I _was_ safe! My new friends here were watching Marvel and Cato, too, and they made sure I got home safely."

"Wow, nice costumes," Gieve remarked after Shireen pointed out the turtles.

"Oh, they're not wearing costumes, Gieve," said Shireen. "They're real turtles! Cool, huh?"

"Shireen!" Donnie hissed quietly. "Remember, our identities need to be kept secret!"

"Relax, Donnie," Shireen replied in the same volume as Donnie. "My brother and his friends are cool."

"Uh…" Arslan said, not sure whether or not to believe what his sister said. "Rena, did you just say…they're real turtles? And they're actually standing here, and talking, like people?"

"Duh!" Shireen replied. Then she proceeded with introductions. "Ars, Gieve, Daryun, I'd like you to meet my friends; Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey. Leo, Raph, Donnie, Mikey, meet my big brother Arslan, and his friends, Daryun Sadik and Gieve Thrussell."

"You're actually turtles…" Arslan said again, his eyes wide even after Shireen introduced everybody.

"Yup!" Mikey said proudly. "We're _mutant_ turtles."

"And they're also ninjas!" Shireen added excitedly. "Pretty cool, huh, bro?"

"Yeah, that's awesome!" Arslan agreed.

"Raph went up to Gieve and studied him, then said, "So, you're the legendary Gieve."

"The one and only," Gieve bragged. "You've heard of Gieve the Great? The greatest musician in all of New York?"

"Uh, no," Raph said. "From what I understand, you're a pretty sucky sitter."

"And you're not the greatest musician in all of _anywhere_ ," Daryun said.

"Daryun!" Gieve whined, then turned back to Raph. "Oh, and FYI—Raph, was it?—I'm very responsible when it comes to caring for my BFF's kid sister."

"Gieve, you're not my BFF," Arslan said. "That's Elam, duh."

"Ah, damn it," Gieve muttered and sat back down on the couch. "Well, I like to think I'm a pretty good musician."

"Thanks, guys, for bringing Rena back safely—" Arslan said to the turtles, then stopped when he saw that Mikey was no longer in the apartment. "Uh, where's Mikey?"

Leo, Raph, and Donnie looked around the living room until they saw the door was open.

"Oh, man, he must've gone over to that contest," Leo moaned. "Our cover's gonna be blown."

"I'm pretty sure nobody's gonna find out you guys are mutant turtles," Shireen assured her friend. "The doorman thought you guys just had on really good costumes. I'm pretty sure the Mellarks and their guests will think so, too."

"Let's hope so," Leo said. He turned to the three teenage boys beside Shireen. "So, do any of you like _Space Heroes_?"

"Leo, nobody likes that show!" Raph said.

"I wasn't talking to you Raph," Leo replied. "I was talking to Arslan, Daryun, and Gieve."

"Uh, no," Arslan replied. "That show's for dorks. Elam says so. And I agree with him."

"Who is this Elam?!" Leo exclaimed in exasperation. He knew from Shireen that Elam was Arslan's friend, but to Leo, Arslan seemed to take Elam's every word a little too seriously, like he was a wise sage or something. He turned to Gieve and Daryun. "What about you two?"

"Heck no!" Gieve and Daryun said in unison.

"Oh, man!" Leo said mournfully and bowed his head in embarrassment. He had been hoping to find at least a couple more fans of the show, that way they'd be able to talk about Captain Ryan and his heroic deeds.

"Once again, thanks for bringing my sister home," Arslan said again.

"No problem," Donnie replied happily.

A few minutes later, Mikey came back into the apartment, a triumphant look on his face. In his hand was some sort of paper.

"Well?" Raph asked. "How was the contest?"

"Great!" Mikey said with a grin. "I won first prize!" He showed his brothers and friends what he had won at the party. "Look! A coupon for a free Antonio's pizza!"

"Yes!" the other three turtles cheered and high-fived (actually high-three'd) each other.

"Congrats, Mikey!" Arslan and Shireen cheered.

The turtles, much to their new friends' disappointment, were now getting prepared to go.

"No, don't go!" Shireen pleaded, using the puppy-dog eyes on them once more.

"Sorry, Rena, but we have to," Mikey explained gently. "We've got ninja stuff to take care of. But don't worry, we'll come by and visit again."

"You will?" Shireen asked gleefully.

"Of course!" said Mikey.

"Hey, can I beat Gieve up next time?" Raph asked Arslan.

"Uh, I don't know," Arslan replied. "As angry as I am with Gieve, I think me shaking him constantly was punishment enough."

"Uh, alright," Raph said with a shrug. "But if you change your mind, my fists are always ready."

"Thanks," Arslan said.

"Bye, guys!" Donnie said as he and his brothers left the apartment and closed the door.

"Well," Daryun commented to Shireen. "You've got some interesting friends."

"Yeah, they're awesome," said Shireen.

Gieve went up to Arslan and said, "So, that stuff about you shaking me being punishment enough…That means we're okay now, right, Ars?"

"Not quite," Arslan said, then turned to his sister. "Rena, why don't you go and get ready for bed, and Daryun and I will be right in to tell you a story, okay?"

"Okay," Shireen said and made her way to her room.

Arslan then turned to Gieve and punched him in the face, surprising both the musician and Daryun. Then he grinned and said, " _Now_ we're even, Gieve."


End file.
